‘You've gotta roll with it’ wrote Noel Gallagher – and he had a point. Roll bar mice give a completely new and fresh experience to using a computer. Whereas there are enthusiasts for these ergonomic beauties all over the world, there are still numerous people who have never heard of roll bar mice, let alone tried one.
So I’ve aimed to put that right by inviting uninitiated office workers to review an exciting new roll bar mouse on the market – the Delta created by the Swedish ergonomic product designers Mousetrapper. Roll bar mouse virgins are welcome here.
What is a roll bar mouse?
A roll bar mouse is an entirely different shape to a standard mouse and you put it in a totally different place. It’s a rectangular panel and it sits directly in front of your keyboard.
It’s also known as a central pointing device and roller bar mouse by the way.
And ‘central’ is the crux of the concept:
Having this mouse central to your body means there's no need to reach to the side for your mouse and you can use any finger on either hand to move the cursor. This is the key health and comfort benefit.
“I absolutely love my bar mouse and couldn’t be without one”
Let’s kick things off by hearing from a roll bar mouse superfan. “I’ve been using a roll bar mouse for 16 years now!” Chris Pratt from Posturite tells me. “I spend a lot of time in my job at my sit-stand desk doing heavy admin. I transition between using the keyboard and mouse frequently, which, in a traditional setup, would lead to a lot of repetitive movement of my right arm. My roll bar mouse means the movement between my keyboard and mouse is minimal, which helps prevent any injuries and makes me more productive. Win-win!”
Unboxing the Mousetrapper Delta mouse
Jack Stonehouse, an SEO Director, and Mishita Gupta, an Events Executive, are my guinea pigs here.
Jack had never heard of a roll bar mouse, and Mishita was aware of their existence but had never tried one. “I’ve been intrigued by them for years, and also somewhat sceptical, believing roll bar mice were more of a conversational ‘cool gadget’ to have as part of your office setup. So I was very excited to actually see what all the fuss was about.”
Mishita gave 10 out of 10 for first impressions of the Mousetrapper Delta mouse during unboxing and thought the outer packaging was simple, stylish and eco-friendly and the instructions were helpful. She loved that the mouse is made from recycled plastic.
“My new Delta roll bar mouse worked straight out of the box with no issues” commented Jack, “and the software to change the buttons worked with no issues. The only negative I have is the USB cable was a bit fiddly to get into the mouse itself. Personally I would prefer a rechargeable Bluetooth version.”
Did you enjoy using the Mousetrapper Delta on the first day?
Jack: “Yes, it took a bit of getting used to, but once I worked it out it was great. I had been using a very basic mouse before and this is far superior.”
Mishita: “Well, my brain certainly got a good workout for the first hour after setup, as I tried to work through my daily tasks without my trusty traditional mouse! However, I decided to be a ‘persevering parrot’ (a quality my son tries to embody at his infant school!) and got stuck in. And I quickly got the hang of the button functions on the Delta mouse and managed to start crossing things off my to-do list. Admittedly, on several occasions, my right hand automatically reached towards the area on my desk where my optical mouse used to be, and I sometimes had to stop to think ‘do I usually do this task with my mouse or keyboard?’. Both occupy a similar workspace which confused things, but considering where I was at the start of the day, real progress was made.”
Chris Pratt likens the experience of starting to use a roll bar mouse to switching from a manual gearbox car to an automatic. “After around a week of use, I was hooked!”
What was your experience after 3 days of using the Mousetrapper Delta?
Mishita: “I definitely became more attuned to the controls. The copy/paste buttons are great – no more CTRL+C button combos on the keyboard. The middle scroll is also very useful and super smooth, making online browsing a breeze.”
The Mousetrapper Delta has 6 programmable buttons – generous compared to rival models – and 4,000 DPI mouse sensitivity to make scrolling, clicking and zooming easy. Scrolling is via a button too, rather than a scroll wheel, which can be really uncomfortable for the fingers with that repetitive finger movement. Mousetrapper promise a smooth, pleasant and virtually frictionless experience to slide the Delta’s Control Bar with its unique soft carbon fibre material and to click with a light press from your finger.
Jack: “I felt a lot more confident using the roll bar mouse after 3 days, and I was up to speed for day to day tasks. In my job as SEO Director at 427 Marketing, I am looking at hundreds if not thousands of websites and multiple data sources a day. The new mouse helped speed up browsing and looking at the data. I think with time it will help even more and I will become much more productive.
It does feel quite natural using the mouse in the middle, much like using a laptop mousepad.”
This particular roll bar mouse is not the smallest piece of ergonomic equipment (50cm width by 12cm depth), so do make sure you have space for one on your desk or sit-stand platform. Jack fed back that the Delta is not massively transportable, as he works between two offices, and it isn’t as easy as just chucking a standard mouse in his bag. He could therefore consider the more portable Mousetrapper Alpha which is a mouse/keyboard hybrid.
The all-important comfort of using the mouse
What score would our reviewers give the wrist rest area of the Mousetrapper Delta for comfort?
- Jack: 10/10 “Extremely comfortable”
- Mishita: 10/10 “Very comfy – the large surface area means that both wrists are protected at all times, and the magnetic attachment is genius when you want to remove the wrist rest for cleaning.”
Reducing strain on the wrist, neck and shoulders is the key aim of roll bar mouse designers. Music to the ears of RSI sufferers! Unfortunately, you might be reading this article because you are in pain and are struggling to know how you’ll continue working. You might be recommended to use a roll bar mouse by your DSE Assessor. Do seek out help from the people at Posturite.
Another reviewer, Adriana, does say in her 5 star Posturite review that the price of a Mousetrapper roll bar mouse is well worth it if you have neck and shoulder issues.
Which Mousetrapper?
Finally, if you’re comparing the different computer mouse models available from Mousetrapper, the Delta features a moving roll bar along the top whereas the Advance 2.0 has a moving trackpad. Unlike a laptop trackpad where the finger is planted and then dragged along the trackpad surface, the Advance trackpad moves with you as you move your finger, so is great for any finger sensitivity too.
The Advance has 4 programmable buttons and the Delta has 6, and the Delta is also the most sustainable of the two models. Another bonus of the Delta is its 2 USB ports for connecting extra peripherals - which is good for laptops that have fewer USB slots.
Ergonomic product specialist Vikki Greer is asked daily ‘Which is the best ergonomic mouse?’. And as she commented in the Homeworker Kit ‘show and tell’ webinar that she presented, there is no real answer to that! Because it’s all specific to you as an individual, remembering that ergonomics means objects fitting to you and your needs and your tasks. I’d recommend a chat to the ergonomic product experts on the Posturite Online Chat for free personalised advice on mice.
Do check out the Mousetrapper Delta in more detail, thank you to our reviewers, and good luck with finding your ‘forever mouse’!
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